I bought the mobile base this week while on vacation and should start putting it together today. At least prepare the wood and get ready to cut to length because my new Grizzly 14 inch G0555LX is on a truck in Dallas and should be here tomorrow or the next day!!! Oh Happy Day! :-)

-- Handcrafted by Mike Henderson - Channelview, Texas

12 replies so far

Just finished set up on my 0555LX yesterday.Get some good blades. The original is not much. 1/4” 6tpi, 3/8” 4 tpi, and 1/2” 3tpi makes for a good blade set. Forget a 3/4” blade. Too much for any 14” BSThe spin down takes a bit due to the cast iron wheels, but the saw seems to be a good buy.You’re gonna need some help setting the saw body on the base. It is some kinda heavy.Are you adding a riser?My instruction book was in the bottom of the main box. I first though that it had been left out.Bill

Forgot to add:I put mine on the same mobile base sized to fit the BS base. Works just fine, but the saw is a little “tippy” toward the front when moving the saw. Just be carefull while moving on the base, and be sure to set the leveling pads to make it more stable.Let us know your impression of the saw.Bill

Thanks for your replies. Last night I ordered a 1/2 inch Woodslicer blade and a 1/8th general purpose 14T blade from Highland Woodworking. I have needs for the smaller blade so I can make sharp turns (1/2 inch) when cutting out my patterns. Back in the 80’s, I used a Sears 12 inch to cut out hundreds of board feet of white pine with that band saw. I used to buy the blades 5 at a time. I was cutting out letters (visualize a fat font) about 4 1/2 inches tall x 3/4” thick. Hopefully this saw will do the same only better. I cut so many, there were times I would almost fall asleep just eating the pencil mark with the saw blade! :-)

I am anticipating getting a lot of use out of the saw. I have 10 pallets saved from the land fill. 5 have been dismantled and I have 5 more to do. I bought a metal detector (Item 94138) from Harbor Freight. You can rest assured I will be taking a close look at those boards even after I remove the nails and staples.

I have several projects in mind for the recycled wood which is mostly oak and pine. The two big pallets were stapled together with pine boards and pine 2×4 runners.

@Bill. Thanks for the heads up on the mobile base. I will check it carefully once everything is mounted and ready to use.

Note: I didn’t order a riser. Don’t need one for now as everything I will be doing is under 5 1/2 inches. The riser wasn’t not available when I last looked at the website.

Last note: I was really disappointed that I couldn’t make it to their showroom to pick it up in person. We were on vacation and made it as far as Tulsa, but ran out of time and headed back to Texas. We were helping our kids move to Tulsa area from Salt Lake City, Utah. I sure wanted to see all those pretty toys in the showroom. :-) Prolly a good thing I didn’t get that look.

Oh, Happy day! Not only did the saw get delivered today, but the mail lady dropped off my blades about an hour later!The freight co was SAIA. I opted for the tail gate lift (extra chg.). It was worth it. Not only did the guy lower it to the ground, he used his pallet jack, and with me pushing, took it up to my garage! Nice guy.Note: It came with free wood! :-)

I spent today putting the band saw base together and then assembling the Harbor Freight mobile base. Everything turn out OK, Tomorrow I will go in search for my buddy and his strong armed buddies so we can mount the saw itself.

1/8” blades are gonna be tough on the bearing style blade guides. May have to back ‘em out of the way and set the thust bearing forward ‘til it lightly touches the back of the blade (upper and lower bearings) then, set the blade tension a little higher than usual.Had an 1/8” blades for my old saw but never used it. That saw had Clool Blocks.Bill

”Harbor Freight Mobile Base”I don’t know why I thought I was going to be reading a review about the HF mobile base , or maybe a blog as to milling the wood and assembly of it and any issues you may have encountered ? Silly me : )

I just finished mounting the saw. Still have to put the table on it. Boy that thing is heavy. The mobile base is working great. My garage has a terrible finish on the floor so nothing is level or smooth. I think the guys that poured my street, did the slab for my house also.

Now word or two about the HF mobile base. All parts were in the box. The instructions are not very descriptive but the drawings are good. I took my time with the assembly. I had to wait until I had the Grizzly saw base together so I could get the measurements.

The HF base has a formula for the length of the boards. One side is 1 3/4 inch shorter that the overall length of the saw base. The other is additional 5/8 inch of the width of the base…or something like that. I used a couple of 2×4 pine boards and cut them to length required, then ripped them to 1 1/4×1x1/4 inch. I got them a smidgeon tight so I hit ‘em with the orbital sander and 60 grit paper on the sides where the brackets fit.

To assemble, I made a dry fit using clamps to get everything square, then marked the holes for a 3/8 inch bit. The bolts are a little smaller so that helps line everything up. I drilled all holes on the drill press. I reassembled all of the boards and brackets with the bolts a little loose for final fit, then bolted it up good and snug.

Note: I marked all of the boards for top, sides, left and right so I could reassemble the way I had the dry fit. That helped my alot.

As you see in the pic, the base fits perfect. With the saw sitting on the base and bolted down, it is easy to move it around. I will post another pic or two after I gt the rest of the saw assembled.

Note: I used the 20% off coupon in Wood magazine to purchase the HF Mobile Base. That made it about $28 bucks or thereabouts.

Thanks for the info …do you think that Pine will hold the weight of your machine ?I thought that hardwood was the norm for these things. ...Just asking ‘cause I’m in need of a heavy duty mobile base. Thanks : )

@Dusty. The way I see it, the weight is on the four corners. The boards are just stretchers. Right? With them bolted tightly into the brackets, all seem snug and should work OK. I guess time will tell.